The Man in the Glass Booth (1975)

Arthur Goldman is a rich Jewish industrialist, living in luxury in a Manhattan high-rise. He banters with his assistant Charlie, often shocking Charlie with his outrageousness and ... See full summary »

Director:

Arthur Hiller

Writer:

Edward Anhalt (screenplay)

Stars:

Maximilian Schell, Lois Nettleton, Lawrence Pressman

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Maximilian Schell	...	Arthur Goldman
Lois Nettleton	...	Miriam Rosen
Lawrence Pressman	...	Charlie Cohn
Luther Adler	...	Presiding Judge
Lloyd Bochner	...	Dr. Churchill
Robert H. Harris	...	Dr. Weisburger
Henry Brown	...	Jack
Norbert Schiller	...	Dr. Schmidt
Berry Kroeger	...	Joachim Berger
Leonardo Cimino	...	Dr. Alvarez
Connie Sawyer	...	Mrs. Levi
Leonidas Ossetynski	...	Samuel Weisberg (as Leonidas Ossettynski)
David Nash	...	Rami
Martin Berman	...	Uri
Richard Rasof	...	Moshe

Storyline

Arthur Goldman is a rich Jewish industrialist, living in luxury in a Manhattan high-rise. He banters with his assistant Charlie, often shocking Charlie with his outrageousness and irreverence about aspects of Jewish life. Nonetheless, Charlie is astonished when, one day, Israeli secret agents burst in and arrest Goldman for being not a Jewish businessman but a Nazi war criminal. Whisked to Israel for trial, Goldman forces his accusers to face not only his presumed guilt--but their own.

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Plot Keywords:

jewish | trial | nazi | x rayed skeleton | courtroom | 

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Taglines:

The kidnapping . . . . The masquerade . . . The murder trial . . . . Perhaps the most suspenseful shocker of our time.

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English German

Release Date:

27 January 1975 (USA)

Also Known As:

El hombre de la cabina de cristal

Filming Locations:

20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cinévision Ltée, The American Film Theatre, The Ely Landau Organization Inc.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

117 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

"The Man in the Glass Booth" was the first play that playwright Harold Pinter directed on the stage that wasn't one of his own written works. Pinter directed the original stage version of "The Man in the Glass Booth" on Broadway.

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Goofs

The X-ray that the attorney holds up is supposedly the defendant's shoulder. In fact it shows a woman's pelvis, with an IUD in place.

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Connections

References Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)

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Soundtracks

"Es war ein Edelweiss"
("It was an Edelweiss")
Written by Herms Niel
Sung by Charlie (Lawrence Pressman)

User Reviews

One of the most intense movies of all time

This 1975 production caught me off guard.The only reason I took it in was because of Maximillian Schell.Well let me tell you,WOW!! I thought Max was deserving of his oscar for Judgement at Nuremberg in spite of the intense competition that year.This is a movie that starts slowly,and your taken on a ride with Mr.Goldman,a surviving jew from the holocaust,who,is haunted by the stigma of why he survived,and his cynical outlook,on lack of action from the jews against the nazi inquisition,and absence of meaningful resistance.He uses mixed metaphors that his associates don't understand,because of his lack clearly explaining his torment.He delivers one liners,that no one knows what he

is referring to,and keeps this a dark secret,which,he has a morbid museum that is restricted to himself only.The intellect and knowledge of this rich developer is astounding.He expresses everything in outrageous terms,which forms part of his gregarious and likeable personality.Because of the death of his father in the camps,he feels responsible,and also blames the jews themselves,for this outrage to have happened.Max was nominated for this movie,which was not well distributed,in spite of this,his performance is stunning,captivating,and intensive.His humour is chillingly funny.Max gives a whole new outlook on analysis on every conceivable subject.During the trial stage,which he perpetuated,he defends himself in a unique way.He defends his admiration of Hitler,and,his contempt for the jewish people,who went away like sheep.His impersonation of Hitler,is astonishing and riveting.He nails down the body language to a chilling crescendo.He has set himself up as a colonel from the concentration camp,to mock and persecute his fellow jews for their lack of protest.The conclusion of this work by Robert Shaw,was certainly not predictable,I will not give it away.If you like razor sharp scripts and an incredible performance by Schell,this is a must see!!This movie is not for everyone,as the plot is rather complicated,perplexing and confined to 3 sets.Arthur Hiller directed this gem with solid fortitude and conviction.It is unfortunate that the present edited copy,not widely available,was changed,because the original I viewed was flawless.Mr.Shaw who we remember as Quint,in JAWS,retracted his name from the screenplay adapted from his play,because of the editing which cut scenes which had enough change to alter the personality of Mr.Goldman.Mr.Schell's Austrian accent has limited his parts,what a shame!!This movie is very cerebral,and is not for every taste. 11 out of 10